Urd's Little Romance
by Nemoskull
Summary: a pick up from the the urd x shohei yoshida episode set years later. Shohei and Urd meet up again. He has never stopping thinking about her and gets that chance to meet up with her again as an adult. i don't own ah my goddess.
1. Chapter 1

_AN: so this is a one shot. i dont own ah my goddess, i just like to play here. dont expect much from me, this is just a hobby in my spare time._ _please review._

Shohei Yoshida took one last look at himself in the mirror before heading off to school. Today was the last day he would be a high school student. He looked at himself again, not really seeing but remembering a long time ago. How could one person, in just two day change his life forever? What would he be today if he had never met Urd? Shaking those thoughts from his head, he headed out the door.

"I'm leaving." he said to the empty house as he closed the locked the door to the rundown apartment. His family had moved to another town a few year ago, but he had stubbornly insisted on staying at his school. Between the money his family sent him, not enough and by design, and the part time jobs he held, he managed to some how pay his rent and not starve too often.

Leaving the street, he walked to the school where he had spent his day studying as hard as he could. He was on the track team, and while not the best, he was not the worst either. The same for his studies. His English was not great, and math was a problem. But that day he climbed a huge building, risking death to follow that white haired girl had changed him. That day he discovered that he really could **do** and not just wish and give up. Scaling the girder, looking into her eyes, he found him self.

These thoughts ran through his head as he passed by the park where he had met her all those years ago. He walked by the park every day, even leaving a hour early just to pass by. He glanced at the kids playing in the park, playing in the sand and he couldn't help himself but to look for a girl with white hair. _Well, she would be a woman now._ He thought.

He arrived at school and went through the day, his last as a child. Tomorrow he would be an adult. It had been something he looked forward to since that day Urd's sister had told him to grow up. Or maybe that was Urd all along. It was impossible, and it was crazy, but some how he believed her when she said she wasn't a child. Some how he believed it wasn't her sister, but that it was really her.

He slid into his seat, in the second to the last row in the class room, and looked out the window that was right next to his desk.

The day ended, the singing was over, and Shohei Yoshida walked home with Koyko. They were close, but not girlfriend and boyfriend. Still, she was as close as any had ever been for him.

"So, a new chapter begins, huh?" Kyoko said as they passed a bakery.

"Yeah, I guess it does. Are you ready?" he asked her. She paused before answering.

"Not really. I'm heading off to a local college, but I really don't know what I want to do."

Shohei laughed. "Yeah, that sounds like you. Your family is rich, so all you really have to do is get married."

"Yeah, don't I know it, too!" she said with a laugh. Shohei paused as they walked by that same park. He stood there, staring at that seat. Not just any seat. **The **seat, where he had met her. Urd.

"hey, what is it?" Kyoko asked him. "What is it about that bench? Every time you get this look. Like your sad." she said, her face full of concern.

"Do you believe in magic?" he asked her.

"What?" she said, taken aback. "Magic?"

"Yeah, magic." he said, pausing to collect his thoughts. "I have never told anyone the story about that seat. You want to hear it?" he asked her. She was as close to him as anyone was, she was like the sister he never had.

"Sure." she said as the walked into the park. "I can tell its important to you."

Shohei sat down on the next bench next to Kyoko. "I was a little kid. For some reason my school didn't have school that day, so like I usually did, I came here and sat at the park to play video games like I always did. You see, back then, I was a different person. I was afraid to fail, so I never tried. I was a dork who wore big round glasses. I spent most of my time my myself."

"and then one day, I was sitting there, totally absorbed in the game, when I heard a police officer asking me why I was drinking sake."

"you, drinking?!"

"Well, it turns out it wasn't me he was talking to, but the girl sitting in that next bench." he said, pointing to the bench in the dim light of the setting sun.

"She had this huge bottle of sake, half as tall as she was. She had white hair and told the officer she wasn't a kid. Of course he didn't believe her, so she ended up tossing me the bottle and taking off running. That's when I ran after her. I will never know why this shy kid who never did anything wrong decided to ran away from the cops, but I did."

"Later on I found her, and gave her back the bottle. We ended up back here in this park. I had this game, it was really super hard. She beat it in a few minutes. I swear she said she was some kind of system administrator or something. She beat every game I had. In the end, it got late and she went home."

"We met up again the next day. But this time she wanted to climb a tree. She had no problem, but I did. I remember she was already up the tree when she told me not to look up."

"Up? Don't most people say not to look down?" Kyoko asked confused.

"yeah, well I did. Right up her shorts." he said, with a blush.

"Oh my god, you?! Really?" Kyoko said as she burst in to a fit of the giggles.

"Are you finished yet?" he asked her, once the giggle had subsided.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Its just funny to imagine you don't something as pervy as looking up a girls shorts. So then what happened?"

"Well, then I fell. It was pretty high, and I was falling head first. You remember when I asked if you believed in magic? Because as I fell, I saw her flying down towards me, with an angel on her back."

"Angel? You sure you didn't hit you head?"

"Yeah, positive. I landed on my butt, perfectly fine. I know what I saw. As impossible as it seems, she had an angel with one white wing and one black wing."

Shohei smiled at the memory.

"Then what happened?"

"We broke into a construction site and climbed to the very top to watch the sunset. She just walked over the metal frame like it was nothing, but for me, it was impossible. And that's when it happened, when I changed. I decided to chase after her. I walked over the girder, just a few inches wide, a hundred feet above the ground."

"Later that night, I followed her home. She was living at a shrine. Her sister told me she had gone back to her home country, and that I wouldn't see her again. I asked if when was grown up we could meet again. She said it was a good idea. Then she kissed me. And that's when I remembered, she had called her self a goddess when we first met. Some how, I just knew it wasn't her sister at all. It was her."

Shohei lapsed into silence as Kyoko just stared at him.

"You must think I crazy." he said a last.

"Shohei, is this why you never had a girlfriend? I know a few confessed." she said, her tone soft and serious

"yes." was all he could say. It sounded crazy, even to him.

"Well, I don't know what to say." Kyoko said to him at last. "But, I think you have to follow your heart. If you believe in your heart that she is out there, you have to follow it. Because even if your wrong, never knowing is worse than failing. You sound...like your in love."

"yeah, I guess I still am. Foolish, I know."

"Love is never foolish. Even when it is."

They both sat in silence on the bench as the moon rose. It was he who broke it first.

"tomorrow I meet with my parents. I'm pretty sure they want me to move back with them and help out with the family business. The arraigned me to get married to the daughter of another company." he said quietly.

"What are you going to do?" she asked him.

"I-I just can't leave this city. I know if I do, I will never see her again. And I can't marry some one else, not until I know if she is still out there or not."

"Then you have to follow your heart."

"that's easy for you to say. I can barely make it as is. If I don't do what they want, I think they might disown me. Or worse."

Kyoko stayed quiet at that. Shohei sat there, staring at the ground trying to decide what to do.

"Well, no matter what happens, you can count me as your friend." Kyoko said to him with a smile.

"Yeah, I know." he said, with a smile of his own. But even he could feel the sadness in that smile.

_One week days later_

Shohei Yoshida sat in the 5 star restaurant as he waited for his parents and a 'guest'. He had put one the one and only suit he had, a nice stylish present from his mother a few months back. Today was the day he would tell his parents he was not moving and that he was not going to get married. Like he had so many times before, he questioned his own sanity to be chasing after a dream like this.

His thoughts were broken as he spotted his all to stern father and his mother walking a step behind her husband. Next to them was a young woman in the latest fashion walking with a grace he had seldom seen. He rose to greet them as they closed in on the table.

"Greetings father, mother." he said with a polite bow.

"I was wondering if you had anything appropriate to show up in." his father said to him before sitting down. His mother follows suit as did the young woman.

"I'm Mizuki Izuna." she said with a bow that mirrored his.

"It a pleasure to meet you." he said back to her before sitting down.

"Now, before we eat, I wanted to tell you we have a nice apartment lined up for you back home." His father said as he looked over the menu.

"Father about that-"

"There will be no discussion on the matter. It has been decided."

"Father I really must-"

"Further, id like to introduce you to the daughter of the Izuna clan. Her father and I have decided that a marriage would be of benefit of both families."

"Father about that I have to talk to you-"

"A management position has been setup for you in the company. The work is difficult, but will serve to strengthen both-" this time it was his father turn to be cut off.

"No." Shohei said.

"No?" his father asked, his tone menacing.

"No. I'm not leaving the city. And I must respectfully refuse the marriage." he said, bowing deeply and formally, more to Mizuki than to his father.

"What?!" his father said, rising from his seat. "Enough of this. You will do as I say."

"I am sorry, but I can not, father." he said, still bowing.

"Is this about that girl?" his father said more than asked.

"What girl?" Mizuki asked, speaking up for the first time.

"My son has had this delusion of some girl he met when I was just a child. This 'magical' girl or something. Its is truly embarrassing, miss Izana."

"I apologize for embarrassing you, father. But I can not leave."

"how long are you going to hold on to this...delusion?" his father asked sarcastically

"As long as I must."

"I see." his father said. His gauze stabbed him and he felt the tension in the air.

"Then I have no son." his father said, before getting up and leaving without another word.

Shohei Yoshida found himself walking back to the his rundown apartment. As he fished out his keys and walked up the rotting steps, he saw his apartment manager standing in his way.

"Um, hello Mr Banri." he said to the old man.

"I am sorry, Mr Yoshida, but you no longer live here." he stated simply.

"I see." Shohei said as the first drops of rain started to fall. "then can I at least get my things?"

"I am sorry, but your father has claimed the contents as his own." Mr Banri handed over an official looking papers.

Legal papers, it turns out. Filled out just minutes before by his fathers legal department

"I am very sorry." Mr Banri said. "I trust I won't have any problems from you?"

"No, of course not. I under stand my father can be very... persuasive." Shohei said. He really should have seen this coming. His father did nothing by half measures.

"I am very sorry. Here." Mr Banri said, holding out an envelope

"Whats this?"

"A refund for the three days left in the month. I'm sorry, this is the best I can do." Mr Banri said.

"I understand." Shohei said as he turned and walked down the street. His job was almost surely gone. He was willing to bet no one would higher him. And getting another apartment was out of the question. He walked down the streets in the rain, the cold soaking his clothes and into his bones. Staring up at the sky, watching the rain fall in all its frigid wonder, he somehow found himself at that same park, were he had saw Urd for the first time all those years ago.

Sitting down on the bench, he questioned his decision. Was it really worth it? Was it really for the best? Was he wrong?

Wrong or right, what was done was done. He had sealed his fate when he went against his father. But one thing was for sure, if he stayed out here, he was going to freeze to death. Getting up and walking over to the phone, he put in his last coins and dialed the number of the only friend he still had left, Kyoko.

He punched in the numbers carefully as his trembling hands would allow.

He waited as the line connected, then started ringing.

Then the line picked up.

"Welcome, you have reached the Goddess help line." said female the voice.

"I'm sorry I must have dialed the wrong...wait. Did you say goddess help line?"

"Yes, now tell me your hearts desire, that I may grant it."

"My hearts desire, huh?" there really was only one answer. "I'd like to see the goddess Urd."

"Are you sure? Is this truly what you desire? Simply to speak to a goddess Urd?"

"Yes."

"You do not desire a house? Or perhaps a job? Or money? Or even a rain coat?"

"Nope. I just want to see her again."

"As you wish. Please give me some time to locate her."

"So she really is a goddess?"

"Urd? Yes. How do you know her?"

"We met when we were both kids."

"Both of you? Are you sure you have the right Urd?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"And where shall you like to meet?"

"Were we first met."

"As you wish."

Shohei Yoshida hung up the phone and went back to his bench. He was still soaked, cold and shivering, but some how all that seemed unimportant. A stupid childish dream he had held onto for so many years had cost him everything, and now against all odds, he was going to see her again.

"Well you look like shit." a familer voice from long ago said to him. Shohei looked up to see a woman clad in a black rain coat with her silver hair spilling out from it.

"Urd." he said, staring.

"Yeah, that's me." she said with a yawn. "So your the fool who wasted a perfectly good wish on a conversation with me?"

"Yeah, I guess I am."

"So who are you again?" Urd said to him.

"You don't remember me?" Shohei said, his smile falling.

"Nope, sorry. I don't really remember you. The only person I ever met here was..." she trailed off as she walked closer to him, her face ever so close to his.

"Shohei...is that you?" Urd said, her voice full of emotion.

"yeah, its me."

"but, why? Why would you waste a chance to have anything you ask for granted? Why waste in on just a conversion with me? Are you stupid?! Do you have any idea what you just threw away?!"

"what can I say? Ever since that day I've never stopped thinking about you. Or that kiss."

"So I guess you didn't believe my whole niece leaving thing."

"Well, I did until that kiss. Hell of a thing, for a kid to be kissed by a woman like you. Some how I just knew it was you." he said with a smile.

"Your an idiot, you know that?" she said as a tear escaped from one eye. "this has to be the sweetest thing anyone has ever done. Getting a wish from the goddess help line is very rare."

"What can I say, not seeing more of you was the biggest regret of my life." he said, standing in the rain soaked and frozen but still feeling warm inside.

"Come on, lets get you out of the rain. Where do you live, anyways?" she asked.

"well, no where."

"what? How come?"

"Well, lets say my father and I had a disagreement and I ended up homeless."

"he kicked you out?"

"Well, no. he got me fired, then served the landlord with legal papers and I couldn't even get my stuff."

"What did you do to piss him off?"

"I turned down an arranged marriage."

"I...see." Urd said slowly before continuing, "Well, come on, lets get you some where more dry. You can stay at our place for now." she said, grabbing him by the hand like she had all those years ago.

"the shrine?" he asked, his memory of the place still a little fuzzy

"yep. But first lets find a TV."

"A television? Is there something you want to watch?" he asked, confused.

"well no. you already know I'm a goddess right?" she said as they stopped in front of an electronics store.

"yeah."

"hang on to me." she said, grabbing him by the waist and pulling him tight to her body. He blushed even as her next word startled him.

"were going to teleport through the TV." she said with a smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Seconds later shohei was inside a living room puking mostly stomach acid on the floor.

"Hey, you okay?" Urd said to him as he picked himself up off the floor.

"Yeah, I think." he said wearily. "I'll go get something to clean this up."

"No, don't bother, I will." Urd said as she headed for the door.

"Oh, Urd are you back already?" a voice said from the hall.

"Uh, yeah. About that Belldandy..." Urd said nervously. Shohei watched as a blond woman rounded the corner to enter the room.

"We, uh, have a guest. He he." Urd said. Belldandy, simply smiled and welcomed him, then left the two alone.

"I don't really want to impose on you guys." Shohei said once they were alone.

"Oh, non sense besides, where else do you have to go? Just go take a bath and figure it out tomorrow." Urd said, after giving him directions to the bathroom.

Shohei did as instructed, and half an hour later was soaking in a tub full of hot water. Despite the warmth, he felt a chill run down his spine. He was alone now, truly all alone. Even living alone, he had known he could always go back home. But now he couldn't. What would he do tomorrow? If his father had gotten him evicted and even locked up his stuff, its was safe to say he would be blacklisted. He would be lucky to get any kind of job that paid.

"Hey, Shohei? I'm getting you clothes." came the all to close voice of Urd.

"Um, okay!" he said nervously.

"You sure you don't want some help in there?" she asked innocently.

"Nope, I'm just fine! Thank you." he said too loudly.

"Okay." she said and he could have sworn he heard her smirk.

Urd left the bathroom with Shohei's wet clothes in a basket and headed down the hall to the find a spot to hang them. They had no dryer, so they would not dry until tomorrow. She knocked lightly on Belldandy and Keiichi's room.

"One moment," she heard Belldandy call out. There was some shuffling then she appeared.

"Yes Urd?" she said, her cheeks flushed.

"I uh, kinda need to borrow some of your husband's clothes." she said, feeling unusually embarrassed.

"No problem," She said as she shut the door. There was more shuffling, a few bumps, then she returned with some shorts and a t shirt. "Will this work?" she asked.

"Yeah," Urd said as she turned to leave.

"Do you want to talk about anything?" Belldandy asked her, putting her hand on her sisters shoulder.

"Not really. Its just been a long day for me. First I get fired, then some boy I met along time ago suddenly turned into a man and I find out he just wasted a wish from the goddess help line on a conversation with me. And to make it worse, he threw away his family for this. I just-" she sagged against the wall and rubbed her head.

"Well, it has been along day," she agreed, "just get some sleep and think about it tomorrow. Every thing seems better in the sunlight." she said with a warm smile.

"Yeah, I guess your right." Urd said, then continued, "I'm just not sure how I feel about him, and all this. I mean, who wastes a wish like that just to talk to some one?"

"You keep saying it was a waste. But to him, it was the only thing that really mattered."

"I just feel guilty, some how. It would have been better if he made a wish like Keiichi's did. That I could handle. I just don't know-" she said as she softly banged her head against the wall.

"Just follow your heart. You would not be this upset if he meant nothing to you."

"I better get these clothes to him." Urd said suddenly as she left.

an hour later Shohei found him self wearing dry clothes and sleeping on a spare futon in the living room. He listened to the sounds of the old house, the weird ticking and groaning of the structure. It was like the house it self was a living thing. Kyoko was right. He didn't know what would happen tomorrow, he might never see Urd again for all he knew. But it was better this way. There would be no regrets. What ever happened, he would try his best.

Morning came as Shohei was woken up by the sunlight streaming in from the window. Sitting up and trying to shake off the nightmare he put away the futon and headed down the hall towards the smell of food wafting though the house.

"Good morning!" Belldandy said to him as she stirred something on the stove.

"Oh, hello." He said, unsure of were he stood in all this. As if sensing his discomfort, she turned to him and smiled as she spoke.

"Shohei, please feel welcome here. You are a friend of Urd's so please feel at home." she said, her smile warm and affectionate. His reply was cut off as Keiichi walked in and sat down at the table, followed closely by Urd.

"He, wasn't there a third one here?" Shohei asked.

"There was, but Skuld got called back to heaven for a promotion." Urd said as she slid into a chair. "Well don't just stand there, sit down and eat." she said patting the chair next to her. As the rest sat down and the food was served the conversation turned to the days events.

"Well, I have to be off, Hasegawa has been begging me for some help in the club, and since I figured it was my day off anyways, I thought it wold be fun." Keiichi said between bites of food. "She was really come into her own, you should see her, she sounds like a real club leader now."

"Well that is a surprise She was always so quite," Urd noted.

"Well, after some house cleaning I'm off to the market for dinner and to run some errands. What about you, Urd?" Belldandy asked as she turned to her sister.

"Well, I thought I would see whats left of my room, some of that stuff goes bad with age." she replied without ever really looking up.

"And what about you, Shohei?" Belldandy asked him, fixing him with a kind but all too penetrating look.

"Well, I am going to see what I can do for work. Pretty sure my father had me fired."

Keiichi was about to ask something, but a hand on his shoulder from Belldandy shifted his focus back to his food.

"Well, thanks for breakfast, Belldandy." Urd said as she suddenly got up and left leaving most of her food.

"Wonder what that was all about?" Keiichi asked with worry on his face.

Shohei had finished his, so he picked up his and Urd's plates and dropped them in the sink before excusing himself. He had to find a job after all.

Urd, eldest of the three Norms sat in her chemist lab toying with a half empty bottle, not really doing anything but waiting for Shohei to leave. She glanced up at the clock, he should be gone by now.

_**And why does it bother you so to see him? **_Asked an all to familiar voice.

"Stay out of this Elegance." She said to her angel who since they had be reunited had developed a bad habit of poking her head into Urd's issue.

_**Well I am the reflection of your soul, what did you expect? My wings are half black too, you know.**_

"Well that doesn't mean I have to like it!" she yelled out loud.

_**But the question is, do you like him?**_

"Him who." she muttered.

_**Sho-**_

"You don't have to say his name!" she yelled at her angel.

_**Why does he bother you so much? **_ World of Elegance asked.

"I don't have to answer that. No go away." She said, irritation and anger in her voice.

_**Your right, I don't have to ask.**_ She said in a sad tone.

"I'm sure Belldandy doesn't have this problem." she muttered and went back to the wall of bottles to find something to keep her self busy trying not to think if her stubborn angel.

The setting sun was picture perfect, dipping low over the horizon, the warm glowing orange orb settling happily into the sea. But as Shohei stood there overlooking the bay, his feelings were anything but. After spending the entire day looking for a job only to be told rudely 'go away' by anyone even remotely in his field he was left irritated as just how bad his day had been. Not even MgRonalds would hire him.

So here he stood there looking at a perfect sunset and wondering if he would be able to find any employment. Sighing, he shook his head to clear the unhappy thoughts and started walking back to the shrine were he was currently staying.

He wondered how Urd's day went. She seem upset this morning and he hoped she could sort it out. What did he really know about her? She was a goddess, but what did a goddess really do? And what about her black and white angel? Were they still together?

Too many questions, not enough answers. But what ever her problem was, he wanted to help. Problem was, he wasn't sure what he could do. He was after all just a mortal. He had almost reached the shrine when he again stopped to look over the bay, the stars glistening and over the water competing with the lights of the city. It really was a wonder sight. Its was funny how he never stopped to notice these simple pretty things until he had lost everything. Well, if he had lost everything it was a fair trade for him. Urd was back in his life again. Against all the odds, even the heaven them self's had decided that his feelings were worthy to be granted. That thought made him feel a little better, enough to go back to the shrine and face the rest of them. Keiichi had some kind of job working with motorcycles and Belldandy seem to fill in as the happy housewife. Wait, was she a house wife? Did mortals and goddesses do that kind of thing?

Walking up to the shrine, he knocked politely

"Hello?" Urd said as she opened the door to see who it was. Looking at him, she spoke again. "You liver here, you don't have to knock, ya know." she said stepping aside.

"How was your day, Urd?" he asked as he walk inside pausing to take off his shoes.

"Isn't that my line?" she said with a wiry smile.

"Urd, is that Shohei? Dinner is almost ready." came the voice of Belldandy from down the hall.

"Well, what are you waiting for, lets go eat," Urd said with a bit on annoyance and abruptly turned and walking away from him. Yep, she still seems upset. With him maybe? Not wanting to think about it too much, he followed her at a bit of a distance to the kitchen were a full meal greeted them. As they sat down and he listened to the talk of their day and felt a pang in his heart. His family had never did this, any meals were spent in silence or him being lectured by his father. This felt like a family, a real family and not just the domestic business matter his father had sired to keep his financial business going.

Urd sat down and picked at her food. Goddess did not need to eat, but Belldandy seem to enjoy this kind of thing, and her food was second to none. She just didn't seem to have an appetite, even for Belldandy's legendary cooking.

_**You should eat before they worry about you.**_

_Shut up, you not my mother._ Urd said mentally to her angel.

_**I'm worried about you. You have never been like this, talk to me.**_

_I don't need to talk to you._

_**Then maybe talk to Shohei? **_Elegance asked hopefully.

"JUST SHUT THE HELL UP, DAMN YOU!" Urd yelled out loud as she slammed her fist on the table, cracking it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to rattle on, Urd." Keiichi said, looking half between worry and scared.

"Please excuse me." Urd said as she got up and left to her room shutting the door and placing a seal on it even Belldandy would have trouble opening. She paced back and forth as she waited for the rage to subside. Elegance was right, this was unlike her. Maybe it was just the stress. Getting a new position at the goddess help line, her asshole of a boss, the stress that had piled up until it blew up, the fact that she left her boss in a pretty large crater, her getting fired. Damn it, she was dealing with a lot. And then _he _had to show up out of nowhere. And then to top it all off, the Almighty him self had contacted her, giving her instruction to be at a park and meet some one. Right after she had been fired and banished to the earth.

But the worst part of it was...was... She wasn't really sure what the worst part was. Shohei had been some one special to her, he had taught her she still had that innocent part in her soul, somewhere. Seeing World of Elegance for the first time had been a shock she never really recovered from. Those black wings, and burning eyes made it all to real to her that she was not a goddess, not really. She was half, and the other half was what scared her. Her fear of her self, the letdown knowing she would never be pure like her sister, so instead she had taken that fear out on her angel, the one person who was closest to her. then the guilt of all those years. And now she had done it again.

"Hey, Elegance, are you there?" nothing.

"Please come out and talk to me, I'm sorry." she said waiting. "Listen, I'm sorry, I just lost my temper okay? I really miss you, I don't want to lose you again." she said as a tear rolled down her cheek. "Please." she whispered.

_**Well, I guess if you put it that way...**_

"Hey listen, I'm sorry."

_**You should be. **_She said her tone condescending.

"Don't get all high and mighty on me!"

_**I thought you said you were sorry.**_

"I am!" she yelled.

_**Just admit it, you like Shohei. You think what he did was sweet.**_ She said in that irritating all knowing tone she knew she had picked up from Urd.

"I don't like him! I just feel sorry for him, that's all!" she yelled again.

_**But what if I like him?**_

"You, like him? What the hell for? He worthless, no job, threw away his future for some stupid dream he had as a kid. What kind of idiot does that? He is a nobody. Well if you want him, you welcome to him." She said still angry. But World of elegance seem to be quiet down after that.

Shohei had been walking back to his room when he over heard Urd yelling at her self, almost having a conversion with her self. Goddess don't go crazy, do they? He paused just a minute too long before his sense of right and wrong kicked in and he started to leave, but not before he hears her yell.

"-worthless, no job, threw away his future for some stupid dream he had as a kid. What kind of idiot does that? He is a nobody." she yelled in an angry voice that caused chills to run down his spine and filled him with fear only a goddess could do. He bolted for the room Belldandy had set up for him and grabbed some covers and hid under them, desperately wanting sleep to take him away from all this as he felt hot, bitter tears run down his face. How could he have been so stupid? So blind? He was holding on to a fairy tale, had thrown away his life for a childish dream. She was a goddess, who was he to even hope to be with her?

Bitter thoughts and tears filled his world until at long last sleep filled his world.

Sleep was a funny thing for a Goddess, and even more strange for a Angel. As Urd slept, Elegance peeked in on her dream. An Angle's life was spent by long periods of boredom. Most of the time it was a shared boredom, her boredom being felt by Urd, and Urd's life being felt by Elegance. All in all, it really was not what mortals would call boredom. But with Urd sleep by choice, a deep dreamless sleep, Elegance decided to make her move. It wasn't like she could really go against what Urd wanted in her heart. She might say something, but it was her heart that elegance was tied to. Urd was so stubborn at times, and Elegance right along with her. Most of the time the two were in sync, much like twins, but even more so.

But not this time. Elegance knew Urd had feelings for Shohei, confused, conflicting feelings. As did Elegance. But for her, she wanted to find out where they led, unlike Urd who was uncharacteristically hesitant in matters of her personal love life. But Elegance had decide, and technically she did have her permission.

Gathering her physical form, she stood next to where Urd was sleeping, kissing her gently on the forehead before moving through walls and hallways to the room Shohei was sleeping in. she felt her self blush as the shared memories from Urd as she looked at his face, so calm and peaceful. Gathering her courage, she knelt down next to him, and touching his forehead with her fingers, she entering his dream.

Suddenly she was transported to a large house and a dinner table. The room was overly large, and the table fit the room, but not the family. Elegance saw a six year old Shohei, with his father and mother both eating in silence. She could feel the apprehension in Shohei as she took another bit of food. She stayed in the shadows of his mind, unwilling to interact in his dream, mostly out of fear. He was in love with Urd, not her. To him, she he saw her as separate and didn't feel the same way about her as he did Urd, he could not fully understand the bond between angel and goddess.

Suddenly his father started talking. She could not make out the words, only the feelings coming from him. So vivid, so powerful and so negative were the words his father made him feel. Outrage at being called a failure when he knew he was anything but. Shame, at the fact that he could not please his father. Desperation as he waited for his mother to say something. Anything to help him.

And it didn't stop there. The scene shifted again, this time as an thirteen year old shohei was berated by his father for turning down a confession from a girl. A girl from a very powerful family. Again, shame as he wondered if he should have accepted her for his family sake. Pain, as his father told him again and again how much he had done for him, his pounding of shame into him for not thinking of the family. Pain as the words brought him to the verge of tears as he realized he had been selfish. Elegance watched from the shadows as they both struggled to not cry at the dinner table. Unable to sit by anymore, dream or not, she walked out of the shadows and into the light.

"Shohei, lets go some were else, okay?" she said, her black and white wings fully visible as he turned to her.

"But me dad will get mad at me if I leave." he said worriedly.

"Don't worry, its just a dream." she said as she leaned over and reached out for his hands.

"But..." he said as he trailed off, glancing back at his father in fear.

"It will be okay, I will keep you safe. Will you trust me?" she asked, kneeling down, her face right next to his.

"I...okay." he said before turning to his father. "Father, I am not feeling well, may I go to my room?" he asked formally.

"What ever. Run away and play games like you always do." his father said with a dismissing gesture.

Elegance followed Shohei as he led her down halls and stairs up to his room. It was a large room, filled with the latest of gaming systems. Not just that, but puzzle and books lined the walls, with a neat desk in one corner and a single stuffed bear that Shohei ran over and hugged, burying his face into it.

"So, any better?" she asked as she sat down next to him. All he could do in nod as he held the bear tight to fight tears. Elegance wrapped her hands and wings around him, sheltering him from the evils of his mind in a cocoon of divine feathers. No, that wasn't right, the evils of his memories not dreams. After a while she felt is fear subside and felt something else take its place.

"Um, can you let me go now?" he asked, blushing.

"Why, don't you like my hug?" she asked, just a bit of teasing in her voice.

"Yes, I mean no," he said blushing even more.

"Oh your just so cute!" she said as she deliberately pulled him tight to her in a hug that left his head between her breast.

"Um, could you please let me go?" he asked, as blood trickled from his nose. She did as he asked and he all but ran to the other side of the bed and sat there figiting with his hands.

"You know," she said after a few minutes, "this is only a dream."

"What?" he said, looking into her eyes for the first time. "A dream? How do I know? How can you prove it to me?" he asked, suddenly serious beyond his dream state years.

"Easy, just wake up and I will be there. Just don't freak out, okay?"

"Okay?" he said.

"Ready? Three, two, one..."

Shohei work up in the middle of the night, unsure of what woke him. He remember a dream about an angel to was talking to him on his bed in his old house. She had...did something. That house usual meant nightmares, but this time he didn't feel the usually panic when he awoke. Some thing she said he remembered, she told him to wake up. Sitting upright and fully opening his eyes for the first time he saw real as ever, the angel sitting at his feet.

"Holy shit!" he yelled and scrambled back into the corner, her slightly glowing eyes and black and white wings far more imposing and frightening that in his dream.

"Your real?" he managed to croak out as his senses returned.

_**Yes.**_ She said in his mind without moving her lip.

"Are you, part of Urd?" he asked, his mind racing.

_**Yes. I am an angel, and she is my goddess. You might say I AM her.**_

"What?" he asked puzzled.

_**When a goddess reaches a certain age, she is given a angel egg. The angel inside grows with her goddess, their souls become one and the same. I am the reflection of her soul, her very essence. Her feelings are my feelings, Shohei.**_

"But Urd seems mad at me. Does that mean you mad it me too?" he asked, his head still fuzzy from sleep.

_**Urd is not mad at you, she is just confused. Conflicted. **_

"Then why are you here and not her?"

_**Lets just say I have the same feelings as her, but I did what she usually might have done. **_

"So you two don't always agree?"

_**Do you always agree with yourself? Don't you often feel conflicted and confused?**_

"Yeah, I guess I kinda get it. Then can you tell me what is bothering her so much about me?"

_**Well, that's not really for me to say.**_ She said looking away.

"This feels like cheating on her, somehow."

_**Why? She is part of me, and I am part of her. Two half's of a whole. **_

"I still don't feel right about it..." he trailed off.

_**Then ask her tomorrow. Please? **_ She asked with a pitiful expression that made him want to not disappoint her. Her wings drooping dramatically didn't much help his resolve either.

"okay." he said.

_**Can I visit you in your dreams again Shohei? **_She asked with a mischievous smile that he had seen in Urd far too many times.

"Um, sure." he said as he made his way slowly to his futon. "Say," he said, pausing before pulling the cover over him, "Do all angels wear as little as you do?"

_**Why, do you not like it? **_ She asked with a shy smile and covered herself with her wings.

"Um, no, not exactly." he stammered.

_**Would you like it if I wore even less? **_She asked her wing covering her up to her mouth.

"No! I mean, well, I'm a guy so yes, but, no, no!" he stammered as his cheeks flushed red.

_**You don't sound sure of you self, Shohei. Well, maybe next time. **_ She said with a smile and wink and she walked through the wall. Pausing on the other side of the wall, she sagged against it and sank to the floor, her hand on her chest. Shohei made her heart beat faster, made her want to do things with him... he was just so adorable. And sweet.

She hurried back to Urd before she woke up and shared their bodies once more.

"What did you do, legance?" Urd asked half asleep.

_**Nothing you wouldn't have done.**_

"That makes me worry for some reason." Urd mumbled in her sleep. Inside of Urd, World of elegance just smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

Morning again. Even as a goddess, Morning was never all that great for Urd, and even less so after she had a bit too much of something Goddess were not suppose to drink that left her with a pounding head.

"Feel like I was run over by a truck..." she muttered as she roused herself and looked for something to ease the pain.

_**More like a convoy of trucks...Stick to Saki next time, for the both of us.**_

"Yeah, sorry about that, I guess." Urd said as the memory of last night drinking with her and her angel came back to her. Then the fuzzy memory of Elegance coming back to her in the middle of the night.

"World of Elegance, what did you do last night?" She asked, wincing at how motherly she sounded.

_**Nothing you would not have done. **_She said with a trace of amusement in her voice.

"You went to see him, didn't you?"

_**You said I could.**_

"But I didn't mean it!" she cried in protest.

_**Your heart says otherwise.**_

"You-" Urd sputtered, "HOW CAN YOU BE SO ANNOYING?" she finally yelled.

_**I think we both know the answer to that question, my goddess who shares my soul. **_World of Elegance said with sarcasm dripping from ever word.

"Am I really that stubborn?" Urd asked herself before quickly adding, "Don't answer that!"

_**Shohei might be asking about our relationship. **_ She added dryly.

"Did you talk?"

_**Kind of...**_ she trailed off.

"You entered his dreams!" Urd gasped.

_**Yes. He has had many painful memories. And he was so adorable at thirteen! **_Urd winced at the shared memory.

"You know, sexually harassing teenage boys, even in their dreams is looked down upon by the angel community." Urd said.

_**Yes, but he was so cute and adorable! He makes me feel...**_ Elegance trailed off, searching for the right word.

"Innocent." Urd finished with a note of sadness in her voice.

_**Yes. **_ World of elegance said with the same tone.

Morning again for Shohei was brought about by the sunlight as it streamed in the window and woke him from the brightness as he slept. Memories of the dream he had and the conversation with the slightly frightening angel left him shaking his head. Sure, he knew Urd had an angel with her that day, but knowing they shared the same soul... was hard to comprehend. Still, there was no doubt she had strong resemblance to the Urd he knew. He also remembered his promise to ask Urd about it later.

Getting up and dressed, he headed to the kitchen were Belldandy was making breakfast again. Slowly the rest of the house was drifting towards the smells from the kitchen. Soon every one was eating and talking about the plans for the day. Keiichi had work, at some motorcycle shop, Belldandy was running errands today, both in the city and the forest. He didn't ask why she was heading to the forest, probably some goddess thing. Urd mentioned she was marathoning her favorite TV series on the newly acquired DVD player, something, she assured everyone, was the greatest invention in the history of mankind. Shohei himself was heading back to get any job he could and try to get himself back on his feet. The over whelming darkness of his life was offset by the presence of Urd and the assurance that she was not mad at him. He wanted to take Elegance's word, but hesitated. Finally managing to be alone with Urd in the hallway, he tried to broach the subject before he had to leave.

"So last night I had an angel visit me." he said with an uneasy smile.

"And now you want to know about our relationship, right?"

"Uh, yeah." he said embarrassed about the whole thing.

"Well, its like she says. We are two half's of one whole. Losing her would be like losing your arms, or legs. I don't expect you to understand." she said with a huff.

"Well, okay then." he said, not really comfortable with discussing her angel's interest in him romantically.

"Hey, listen, we share the same soul, the same memories. If you really want to get to know me, she is a big part of me too, okay?"

"Ah, I see."

"Don't make her cry, got it?" She said darkly.

"Uh, yeah, got it." he said as he suddenly felt the need to leave.

Shohei finally found someone willing to hire him, but it was half way across the city in a construction zone. Daily pay, and very little paperwork, no one even asked for his name before signing him up. The hours were long, the pay was low, but it was work.

Exhausted at the end of the day and after a long walk home Shohei stumbled in close to midnight. He walk in the unlocked door, and figured anyone stupid enough to try to steal something from a shrine and the house of an honest to god goddess probably had what ever he got coming.

Walking down the hall, he settled in for a quick shower, not even having the energy to take a good soak, then put on the clothes he had borrowed from Keiichi, then stumbled off to bed. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

He wasn't sure when, but at some point in the night he realized he was dreaming again. He was standing under a large tree on an empty hilltop, with the wind howling. He looked out and saw gathering storm clouds coming in from the ocean.

"I always love the calm before the storm." said the voice next to him. He turned to see World of Elegance standing next to him, somehow wearing jeans a t shirt. He glanced down at the large boots on her feet.

"Too much time around Keiichi I guess." she said, shrugging her shoulders and wings.

"So, you return again." he said, wondering if this was the real Elegance or just the figment of his dream.

"No, I'm real." she answered is unasked question.

"Don't all dreams say that?" he asked playfully.

"Well, I could wake you up again, I'm right there, you know." she said, turning back to the approaching storm.

"Uh, really?" he asked, bead of sweat breaking out on his forehead.

"Your so adorable when your asleep. You have this cute expression on your face." she said, smiling.

"You know, that is kinda creepy."

"Would you rather I go away?" she asked, hurt in her voice.

"Well, no. its just going to take some getting used to, that's all."

"Okay. So what do you want to do?" she asked, as she glanced back to the gathering storm.

"I don't know. I am not used to knowing I'm dreaming. What do you want to do, Ele?" he asked, shortening her name.

"Ele," she repeated, " I like it." she said, staring back at the storm.

"You really like storms, don't you?" he asked, noticing her stare.

"Yes, I love them, the destruction is intoxicating," she said to him, before her tone turned sad, "It's my demon half."

"Demon?" he asked her.

"Did you think all angel have a black wing?" she said sadly.

"Then that means that Urd..."

"Yes, she is a half breed."

"That must be hard for her."

"It's harder on her than it is on me. I accept it more than she does. A lot of people in heaven still avoid her. But thankfully her sisters love her all the same."

"So what is her job in heaven?" he asked as the first drops of rain started to fall.

"She was a system administrator, but not anymore."

"Why?" he asked.

"I don't feel comfortable talking about it. Its really not for me to say." she said as she turned away from him, her white t-shirt showing each drop that hit it.

"You two seem so different, yet so alike." he said as he started to get soaked, the thunder and lightning of the storm now making landfall.

"As a human you have the choice to show what parts of you you want the world to see, for me, I share her soul, and I see it differently than she does. She can blind herself to the the parts she doesn't want to acknowledge, but I can not, so I am more accepting of it." she said over the howl of the wind, both of them soaked in the warm rain, the wind cool and pleasant against their skin. Shohei noticed she had no bra on, the wet t-shirt clinging to her body her breast visible through the translucent material. He quickly turned away from her.

"Hiding from me again?" she asked playfully. "I am wearing more this time, right?"

"I get the feeling you like playing with me." he said his back still to her.

"Yeah, well I might have chosen this outfit knowing it would rain." she said, her voice close to his back. Shohei really did not know what to say when her arms wrapped around his chest.

"It's okay if you don't feel for me like you do for her, but remember, we are one and the same. Two half's of a whole." she said in his ear as the rain and the thunder fell all around them, the giant tree swaying in the wind.

"I know that in my head, but in my heart, it still feels wrong, Ele." he said, adding, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she said, not letting him go, "just remember, you wanted a chance to meet her again. And you have. This is part of that chance you were given Shohei. The chance to meet _us_."

"I-" he said, turning around to face her but was stopped by her finger in his lips, her skin cool.

"It's time to wake up." she said with a smile, then faded out from his dream, leaving him feeling alone for that instant between awake and asleep.

Morning came again to the Morisato residence, the monk still on his latest trip around the world. The sun light was bright as Urd worked on her latest creation.

"And there its finished!" she said, putting the bottle back on the shelf as her angel floated in the room.

"Out again late, huh?" she asked, knowing were she had been.

_**We were on a hill, this big green hill with a single tree. It was raining.**_

"And you just had to wear a white shirt." Urd said sighing. It was fun when she was teasing, but Elegance doing the teasing was different.

_**You really should join us next time.**_

"I can't."

_**Can't or won't?**_

"Can't. I'm busy." Urd said turning back to her table.

_**Busy with busy work? **_ Her angel said with a smile.

"Go harass someone else."

_**I just might do that.**_


	4. Chapter 4

Kyoko laid on her plush bed, wasting away the summer break. she had her college lined up, and pretest studied for and now she enjoyed the greatest of luxuries, time. flopping over to her side, she pulled out her phone and check her messages for the hundredth time. still no word from Shohei. Despite being the same age, she had seen him as a little brother. he was so serious in school, so studious. so boring, and kinda geeky. she worried about him, it was unlike him to go so long without even so much as a 'hello' message. Kyoko's phone lit up just as those thoughts rolled through her head. snatching up the phone traces of worry creased her face as she saw the number. just one of her friends. sighing as she answered the phone, she listened to her friend rattle on about some party she was being invited to. she agreed then hung up. still no word from Shohei. a Goddess? was he really he really that crazy? Shohei was always so serious, it was unlike him. and to keep this from her for the years they spent in high school... Maybe he really was in love. but what kind of woman would toy with a child's feelings like that? it just made her worry all the more for him. Making up her mind, she dialed in the Yoshida residence and waited. "Hello?" a mans voice answered that she remembered as Shohei's father. "Hello, Mr Yoshida? i am looking for Shohei? is he okay? It's been a while since-" "There is no Shohei that lives here." Mr Yoshida cut her off. "Oh, so he moved. do you know where i can contact you son?" she asked cheerfully, despite the cold shiver running down her back. "I have no son by that name. good day." he said gruffly as he hung up. Kyoko sat there, slack jawed. he really did it, the son of a bitch really disowned his own son. "Bastard!" she yelled out in anger and frustration slamming her fists into the soft bedding. That meant Shohei was all alone probably homeless. grabbing her shoes and jacket she ran down stairs to look for him on her own. passing the maid, she simply told her she was going out for a bit. running to the park were they had last spoke, she looked for him. where else would he go? the day passed on as the sun hung lower and lower on the horizon, until night prevailed against the daylight and the stars showed themselves for all to see. grunting as she picked herself up off the bench, she started walking home vowing to find him at all cost. she had more money than she knew what to do with. should be simple to higher an agency to find him. "Hold on Shohei." she muttered as she started back to her home. OoOoO Shohei walked home in the dark, the starlight being drowned out by the lights of the city as he walked the final leg to his home. Home? he thought, no not his home. he had no home. It was the Morisato residence. where Urd lived. and he stayed, at least until he could afford a place of his own. tho it was not looking very good for him. the work was back breaking, he was more the smart guy than the strong one. the pay was not that great, and he was falling behind the rest of the crew. he might not have that job soon. maybe he could get a job washing dishes. the computer design job he was aiming for after college was gone now. even the local shops had been warned off by his father. his father seems to be rich and powerful, but in reality their debt was sky high, and their power and influence was dependent on how people saw the facade the Yoshida clan put up. it was all lies, really. but even lies held sway over those smaller. by the time he got home, his meager earnings secure in his pocket, managed to enter quietly enough to not wake anyone and made his way to the bathroom. stripping of his cloths, he showered and dried off, dressed then off to bed, not even having the energy to soak in the tub. Stumbling back to the room with his bed laid out on the floor, he was asleep before his head hit the pillow. OoOoO Dreams were a funny thing for Shohei these days. it was like his life was split in two. the real world were he toiled to exhaustion, hoping to get a glace of Urd, and the dream world, where her angel would visit him. would she show up tonight? he wondered as he sat in his class at school, dimly aware that he was once again dreaming. he looked out the window and doubted his decision again. who was he, really to be worthy of the attention of a goddess, or her angel for that matter? "Doubt will make your soul ugly, you know." came a voice he knew well. "Hello Ele." he said as he looked up to see World of Elegance walk in, pencil skirt and top with glasses matching the ideal hot teacher look. "Stand, bow." he heard the class president say, the shuffling of seat breaking his stare. "Mr Yoshida? are you forgetting something?" Ele said from the front of the class. "What?" he asked. "Stand, bow." she said gently with a smile. "Oh, right." he said as he did as instructed and took his seat again. was she real, or just a dream of his? "Yes, i am real, Mr Yoshida." Ele said from the front of the class before lowering her voice to a more conspiratorial tone, "I just wanted to play 'teacher.'" she said as she bent low enough to show off her cleavage much to the notice of the males in the class room. "Hey this is supposed to be my dream." he grumbled as he watched the stares Ele was getting from his 'classmates'. wondering what she was up to, he watched as Ele started writing some complex formula on the board. he stared out the window in frustration until his name was called. "Mr Yoshida? please solve this problem for the class." Ele said, beckoning him to the chalk board. shifting in his seat before getting up, he tried to understand the problem on the board. half of it was algebra, the other half was a series of logic gate diagrams. his curiosity getting the better of him, he grabbed the chalk out of her hand, brushing aside Ele's wings as he started working the problem, lining up the math with the diagrams on the chalk board, erasing here, adding there, until it felt right. "See? so what is it?" Ele asked him, looking at him through her glasses, shuffling her wings in anticipation. "Its... i don't know what it is yet." he said with a frown. "This is like next generation stuff." "Actually, its next, next generation." she said as she warped her left hand around his shoulder, her wing ever so soft against his cheek as she leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Shh, don't tell anyone where you got this from. its kinda against the rules." she said, then brushed her lips against his cheek. "So, does it still feel wrong?" she asked him. "Yes, kinda." he answered, his cheeks burning. "Well, okay then." she said withdrawing from him to stand a few feet away. "So, tell me, how are you going to seduce Urd?" "S-Seduce?!" he all but yelled. "Well, yes. you are in her heart, our hearts. she just wont accept it. she needs a push. you should get her a gift, then make you move." "but wont she know about this conversation?" he asked. "well, she may know about it, but actually being able to recall it is another matter." she said slyly. "I don't know if i can do that." he said. "You have to. she wants a man, not a little boy. she still has feeling for you, but they are the feelings of a little girl for a little boy. she needs some one to be aggressive you need to be aggressive, or you might lose her." she said, her wings drooping, "and me too." she said in a tiny voice. "I-I understand." he said as he held the chalk in his hands looking at her as she toyed with her wings looking out the windows with a bit of a sad look on her face. He knew part of her act was just that, be he also knew she was hiding behind the pouty act to hide her fear. "I will make it happen." he said, striding up to her, taking her in his arms. "I won't let you be sad like this, okay?" he asked as he held her, her wings slowly encircling them. Glancing back to the board, he again wondered how much trouble she could get into for giving him computer technology from the future. "this is going to take some time to put together." he said, looking again at the layout of the diagram on the board. "Oh, wait, it gets better." Ele said from with in his arms. "Better?" he asked, looking down at her as eyes glowed in excitement. "Yeah, better. This is just the start." she said smiling devlisihly at him. "We should... crap, never mind. Its almost time for you to get up." she said, releasing him from her arms, drawing her wings back to her. "but I just fell asleep." he complained. "Well, to you, you just fell asleep, but to me, this is the sixth conversation we've had. I had to save the best for last." "But why don't I remember it?" he asked, as the dream started to fade. "Its the nature of the human mind. This is the second time tonight you've asked me that." she said, as the dream faded and the real world called him. "Ele..." he said, as he sat up in his futon on the floor, the daylight streaming in. "_**still here." **_a voice said from behind him. "Hey." he said happily as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "_**hey your self. You look pretty cute in the morning."**_ "So do you." he said, getting a good look at her for the first time. She sat there, wearing only his shirt, her legs crossed as she blushed lightly as she looked away. "How did you fit your wings into my shirt?" was all he could think to ask. "_**A bit of magic." **_was all she said as she got up, tugging down on the front of the shirt, not so subtly suggesting that the shirt was all she was wearing. "WORLD OF ELEGANCE!" came the earth shattering yell from Urd's room. "_**Oops, got to go." **_she said with a guilty smile as she flew out the window briefly flashing Shohei as she flew out the window before Urd came storming in. "YOU!" she yelled leveling her finger at him, "This is all your fault!" "Ah, trouble with your angel?" he asked meekly with a smile. "Of all the stupid stuff she could pull..." she muttered as she stopped to fix him with a stare that was anything but pleasant "Hmm, I wonder if I can make a potion to erase your memory." "I though angels were the reflection of their goddess's souls?" he asked, trying to redirect her anger. "Yeah, well..." she said, turning to look out the window. "This still you fault!" she yelled, her face still turned away. "You can understand why, right?" he asked her. "Yeah, well..." "And after all," said belldandy as she walked in the room, "she was not the one who left her former boss in a crater and got banished to earth." she said with a smile and a soft giggle. "Your not helping belldandy. You don't seem to have this problem with your angel." she said sourly. "Maybe we should talk about this elsewhere and let Shohei get ready for work." Belldandy said, gently leading her sister out of the room. Shohei sagged in relief as Urd left the room. He maybe in love with her, but damn, she could be down right scary sometimes. Getting up and ready for work, he got dressed and grabbed a bite of belldandy's heavenly food before heading out the door. When lunchtime came around, he decided to forgo his meal and instead went to a near by store and bought a notebook and a pen. Sitting down during his lunch hour while is workmates ate and made lewd jokes, Shohei was all student as he wrote down the math and diagrams from his dream last night. It was some kind of math processor, but exactly what kind of math it was processing was still beyond him. This was something really big, and he had only the first bits of the puzzle. Pretty soon lunch was over and he want back to his job hauling concrete and other debris. OoOoO across town, Kyoko had just got off the train and was heading downtown. Through her fathers contacts, she found the name of some one who had a reputation for finding things, no questions asked. It was a little scary for her, but this was Shohei she was talking about. What would he do without his family's support? The thought of him jobless and homeless was too much for her. It had been too long since they had last spoke, she was long past worried. The fear drove her to a less that gleaming part of town and and raced up the aging apartment building to find the door she was looking for. Gathering her courage, she knocked, once, twice. Then waited. Hearing no answer, she knocked again, harder this time. Still no answer, she flat out pounded the door and kept pounding until she heard a mans voice yell something incoherent from inside. Kyoko stepped back as a angry, hung over and shirtless man opened the door. "This had better be good." he said, one eye closed. "I-I'm looking for Mr Razor." she said, hoping she had the wrong apartment. "That's me. What do you want?" he said gruffly, as a womanly voice complained in the background. Kyoko gathered what was left of her courage. "I am hear about a job. I need to find some one." "Yeah, so?" "I hear from people that you are the man for the job." she said stiffly, unsure of what to expect. "yeah, what kind of people?" he said, eye still closed. "the kind who don't want questions asked." she said simply. He eyed her for a minute, before opening both eyes and opening the door farther. "Come in." he said. Kyoko followed him inside, noting the reek of alcohol and something else she could not identify Something vaguely human, sweat, mixed with something else. Ignoring the mess, she sat in the stained couch he indicated to her. "So, what kind of job is this?" he asked, taking a business tone with her. "I need to find some one. A classmate of mine. His father disowned him, and I have not heard from him in a while." "Oh, lost your boyfriend?" came a sultry voice that match an equally sultry body wearing a scandalously short china dress cut low enough for Kyoko to realize she was wearing nothing underneath. "N-No, not my boyfriend. Just a friend. A good one." she said, tearing her eyes from the rampant display of womanliness that left Kyoko feeling inferior. "So who are we talking about? I need something." the man said, ignoring the woman who walked over to him, leaning on his back, her breast pressed against the back of his head, with her staring at Kyoko. "Shohei Yoshida. He was having family trouble, his father disowned him, and im afraid of what happened to him. He should have called me if things went bad, but he never did." "Yeah, I heard of him. Sucks for him. Last I heard, he was kicked out of his apartment and no one would higher him." "So you know where he is?" she asked hopefully. "Eh, no. sorry." "but you can find him, right?" "Yeah, I can. For a price." Kyoko didn't answer him, just pulled off her backpack and unzipped it and dumped several bundles of cash onto the table. She could have bought a nice car for the amount of money. Between her savings, borrowing, and maxing out her credit cards, she managed to rack up an impressive amount. "Will this suffice?" she asked, praying it was enough. "Well some one seem to really miss their boyfriend." the woman smiled and laugh, still laying all over Razor. "I told you he is not my boyfriend. Were just, close." was all she could say. "Well, I understand." "So you will do it?" she asked, looking at Razor hopefully. "Yeah, ill take the job. Mind you, I have other work, but I can promise you I will find him, or no charge." he said, then gestured to the woman behind him. "Walk her out." "Sure thing." she said her voice rich and sexy. As the two walked towards the nearest train station, Kyoko could not stand the silence any longer. "How?" she asked the woman next to her. "Excuse me?" "How can you live in the dump? Let that man order you around? How can you walk around almost naked?" Kyoko asked, frustrated. "Well, not everyone was born a princess, like you. As for me and Razor, lets just say I owe him one, and I always repay my debt. I owe him big." she said, her smile turning into something darker. "And as for the clothes, well, what can I say, in a nation of prudes, I like the attention. Everyone knows im off limits. Tell me something, do you ever think of when your old?" "old?" Kyoko said, confused at the change in subjects. "Yeah, take that old man across the street." "the one running the food stand? What about him?" "He has been eyeing my discreetly since he first laid eyes on me." "That's just gross, hes like, ninety." "97 actually. I let him, its a game we play. He tries not to get caught, and I try to give him an eyeful" "but why, that just makes you sound like a-" Kyoko shut her mouth, the words left unsaid. "A slut?" she finished "Well, yes." Kyoko said, looking down in embarrassment "You know, he was a real badass in his day. A real man. Not these sissies we got today." "him?" Kyoko asked, confused even more. "Its true. He was IJA, Imperial Army. He jumped out of planes and into combat in WW2. You would never know it from the kind old closet pervert, but he was a real killing machine. The first in and the last out. Wounded five times, came back swinging every time. Proud, fierce A warrior defending his home. Then we lost the war, and he became nothing but an unwanted memory of a people who wanted to forget he ever lived. All that blood he bled, all his comrades he watched die in the hell of that war. And who cares? No one. We don't want him. We want to pretend his kind never existed. And so you ask why I dress like this? Because of people like him. He gave all, and lost it all. So if the highlight of his day is grabbing an eyeful of my ass as I walk by, then that's my way of saying thanks. Because no one else will." Kyoko just walked in silence, trying to understand the woman next to her. She dressed like a slut, acted like one too, but then showed her a side that held a twisted sense of honor and justice. She looked at her, as If for the first time, trying to understand this woman. "Hey, you see that guy reading the paper?" Kyoko looked in the direction she was pointing. "Yeah, I see him." "He is watching me too. And I don't mind. He married early in life, his wife is a bitch. I can hear them arguing from my apartment. But you know what? He never fights back. Poor man hasn't had sex in years. So one day I offer myself to him, you know what he say? 'I am sorry, but I can not dishonor my wife like that.' his life is shit, and he stays with her, because he made her a promise, and even tho she treats him like shit, he never complains, he is still if faithful to her. Damned if I know why. But he is a real man. He sticks to his promises, no matter what." "And that is why you dress like that?" Kyoko said, trying to understand this women next to her. "Yeah, I guess. If it makes their life a bit easier, then that's fine with me. My way of saying thanks to a great generation. We need more like them now." Kyoko was about to reply, but found her self standing in front of the train station. She looked at the station, then back to say thanks, but the woman was already gone. Kyoko boarded the train, thinking of what the woman had said to her. One thing was for sure, she was not a cheap slut and she was not someone to be taken lightly. She boarded the train and tried to make sense of the conversation. 


End file.
